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Laptop Keyboards Compared

I have used a laptop for everyday web development most of my career. I am a keyboard snob. A huge keyboard snob.

My favorite keyboard of all time is the classic IBM keyboard:

But no laptop keyboards even come close. In fact, it has been a fad over the last few years to put a 10-key pad on the laptop! How mind-numbingly stupid! I decided to design my own “programmer” laptop. I found the following to be important.

The keys I use most often are the 6-key bank (Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down) and the arrow keys. These I want true to the classic feel.

Keep Alt and Ctrl where they should be. Don’t crowd it with “Right click” keys or “Fn” keys. Why would I need to use the “Fn” key while my fingers are on the home row? Move it off to the side!

I can handle the Windows/Option/Super key (star key below) between Ctrl and Alt. They are often useful.

Separate Esc pretty well.

Keep the keyboard and touch pad in the middle of the keyboard. With the currently popular 10-key laptop keyboard layouts, either my wrists or neck become awkward.

Keep a middle click button. I use it constantly.

Add a nice and somewhat separate area on the touch pad for scrolling.

I like the pointing stick between keys g, h and b.

Mockup of my ideal laptop keyboard.

Yes, I know: It’s ugly! But I want function. I measure that to be 16.5 inches wide. That is comparable to the 16.4-inch width of a Toshiba laptop with a 17.3-inch screen. For smaller screens, checkout this second mockup. I measure it to be 14.4 inches wide. That is narrower than the 15.1-inch width of a Toshiba laptop with a 15.6-inch screen.

Mockup of a narrow version of my ideal laptop keyboard.

For comparison, here are some other laptop keyboards. I find them all unfriendly to developers—but I am a snob.

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Ken Snyder is a Software Craftsman specializing in PHP and JavaScript. Ken works in Salt Lake city for Right Intel.
He is the co-founder of UtahJS, an educational non-profit aimed at promoting JavaScript in Utah.